Some of what I see and who I am

Day 39: Moss Landing to Andrew Molera State Park (just north of Big Sur)

2011/08/15

Day 39: Moss Landing to Andrew Molera State Park (just north of Big Sur)

Miles: 44

What I rode by: my ability to predict mileage, Hurricane Point

So, for the second day in a row I underestimated just how many miles we would be riding today. In general, today was eventful.

Kristen wants me to put on record what I ate for breakfast this morning: French toast (4 pieces) with bacon, A side of bacon, Four eggs, Corned beef and hash (this was delicious), Two pieces of toast

We had our first flat tire this morning! Kristen’s rear tire picked up two small shards of glass that somehow managed to make their way through our awesome tires. We changed it on the side of a farm road.

Kristen pumps up the new tube.

After the flat tire, we had about 12 miles on a rolling seaside bike path. Then it was the streets of Monterey. Once we climbed over Carmel, we were back on Hwy 1 though I was concerned with how many miles we had left to ride. There is not much in the way of towns and villages between Carmel Highlands and Cambria (25 miles north of where we live), and it was ever so relaxing to be in the middle of that again.

This was the first sign that had San Luis Obispo on it.

Late in the day, we would later learn, we rode by Hurricane Point. This, and the area around it, were buffeted by CRAZY gusting winds. We were getting blown all over the place. At one pullout, if I released my brakes, my bike would start to quickly roll forward. It was crazy. It was also fun to just scream into the wind. As we continued south, the winds eased up a bit and became mostly a powerful tailwind pushing us toward our campground. Hurricane Point (a local told us) happens to be a westerly point along the coast that has no other land mass blocking any wind that travels across the Pacific Ocean and comes down the coast from the north. Everything south of it is on the leeward side of the Point and is subject to less wind, in general. Hence, Hurricane Point is a windy place. This guy also told us he was driving near Hurricane Point one day and saw a woman, bike and all, get picked up by the wind and deposited on the opposite side of the road. Based on the winds when we rode through, I completely believe him.

We shared a campsite with two sisters from Switzerland and showed them pictures of our trip.